This Man Found the Woman Who Saved His Life, With a Viral Facebook Video

CPR from a stranger saved this man’s life. Now, he wants to thank them. This is how the power of social media led him down the right path.

Most people who try running a marathon or a half marathon, are focused on finishing. And while it can be painful and a challenge, most of us don’t think of the possibility of tragedy occurring- but that’s exactly what happened to Bill Amirault.

The 44-year-old Colorado Springs resident was finishing the Key West Half Marathon last week, when he collapsed just before the finish line.

In his viral Facebook video, Amirault describes how he rounded the last bend and then was struck by tunnel vision. He fell down to one knee, and reached out to tap a person beside him, telling them that he felt like he was going to faint.

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What Happened

Amirault has no memory of what happened between this moment and later on, when he woke up in the hospital. He blacked out. Medical staff informed him that he actually suffered from cardiac arrest, and that some important stranger had performed CPR on him, as the public waited for paramedics to arrive on the scene.

It was an act that saved Amirault’s life and maintained full functioning in his brain and body-something for which he is truly thankful. But he had no idea how to find the actual person who helped save him, in those key moments.

By making a video that went viral on Facebook, however, Amirault found his friend: it’s Amy Smythe, a nurse in the cardiovascular unit at Christiana Care’s Christiana Hospital, who is the heroine that saved the day.

Amirault’s new plea? If you don’t already know it, get out to a course or watch a video and learn CPR.